In what has become a bit of an annual treat, a few sekitori sumo wrestlers came to the Sabers gym to join in on the weekly Wednesday night faculty/community basketball game. Perhaps not so quick up and down the court, the 4 rikishi set mean screens, were difficult to box out, and were not afraid to shoot. Commented Coach Routh, "Them boys is wide."

Special thanks to former Sabers basketball player Makoto Honda for bringing the wrestlers. Makoto's family's temple serves as base camp for the dozen sumo wrestlers belonging to the ﻿Shikihide beya﻿ as they prepare for and compete in the 春本場所 spring tournament in March in Osaka. Good luck to these "Sabers sekitori".

"I'm Atoka Jo. And I'm Mira Ishikawa."It was a time of transition in the Sabers TV studio on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, as the Sabers TV audience heard these iconic words for the last time. Four SOIS seniors ended their Sabers TV career with their final broadcast - Atoka, Mira, Miho, and Ayumi all bade farewell on air to their legion of Sabers TV fans. Kaiya, former Sabers TV camera operator, was also in the studio to say good-bye.

These students (except Atoka), plus former Sabers TV crew members Haruna, RIca, and RIntaro, all graduate from SIS this week. And we also said sayonara to the graduating SSC members, Kaho, Juri, Risako, and Nono. Best wishes to these very important members of the Sabers Nation. They will be missed.

The Sabers middle school soccer team, behind the scoring and leadership of Aidan Suzuki and Hyun Woo Shim, captured the 2015 Sabers Invitational futsal championship, Saturday, February 21, 2015, defeating a very talented International Senri Soccer School team. An emotional Coach McGill after the tournament said, "I literally can't put into words what this win means to me." The Sabers B team won 2 matches to finish a respectable 6th place. Congratulations, Coach McGill, Coach Stone, and all Sabers footballers.

Past tournament t-shirt designsThe Sabers host the 2015 AISA swim meet in April. As with all AISA events, we will produce a tournament t-shirt to commemorate the event. And, as usual, we are soliciting designs for the t-shirt. Anyone - young student, old student, faculty, staff, parent - can submit a design.

The shirt will be a short-sleeve, dry-fit polyester t-shirt, black.

The design should use only 2 colors - white and/or purple.

The design should include the AISA logo (see below).

Deadline: March 5, 2015. Hurry!

Format: electronic or paper.

Contact: Hirai-sensei. thirai@senri.ed.jp

If your design is chosen you will receive, along with universal acclaim, a free tournament t-shirt.

Futsal fans, be sure to come out to the Sabers field Saturday, February 21, 2015, for the annual Sabers Invitational Middle School Boys Futsal Tournament. Cheer on Coach McGill and Coach Stone and the Sabers boys. Click on the link below for tournament details.http://sabers.senri.ed.jp/ms-futsal.html

Sabers athletes- young and old - and all Sabers friends, families, and fans: Check out the new Sabers Athletics Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/soissabers. This will be the place to go for the latest Sabers news, results, schedule updates, photos, and more. Spread the word to the Sabers Nation.

On Saturday, February 7, 2015, the Sabers girls and boys soccer teams opened their 2015 campaigns with solid victories, the girls varsity defeating the Marist International School Bulldogs 5-0 (featuring a quick hat trick from Ai Kano), and the boys trouncing the Kyoto International University Flames by many, many goals.

These were the first WJAA soccer matches held at the Kwansei Gakuin Sanda campus, a new venue for the Sabers. Beautiful setting, beautiful weather, beautiful soccer.

AISA math mania and leadershipJanuary 29–February 1, eight SOIS students traveled to the British School of Beijing (BSB) to participate in two AISA events: a math mania competition and a student leadership conference. Four Sabers “mathletes” – Yuichi Yoshioka, Sangjin Oh, Re Ea Tay, and Ryoko Izuta (for the second time) – competed against math students from the other three AISA schools.Also, four SOIS student council members – Sungwook Eun, Emily Yamanaka, Kanako Tsutsumi, and Eugenie Shin (for the second time) – took part in a collaborative conference in which they explored international leadership issues and shared common student leadership experiences with their AISA counterparts.These were great events for our students. Special thanks to the teachers who prepared the students – Mr. Bertman, Mr. Dupont, Baba-sensei, and Munemasa-sensei – and to Mr. Bertman and Tosa-sensei for chaperoning.